Progressive groups and students of Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) held a program and candle-lighting at the campus in Quezon City on June 10 to demand justice for the deaths of two players of the Ateneo Men’s Basketball Team. Athletes Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili died after drowning in Dipaculao, Aurora on June 8 amid the team’s basketball training and activities.

Led by the League of Filipino Students (LFS)-Katipunan, ADMU students demanded justice and truth over the incident. They challenged the university administration to be honest with the public and take responsibility for its shortcomings.

“A more thorough investigation and transparent report of the said team-building activity sanctioned by the university and the events leading up to the deaths of the two student-athletes must be carried out,” LFS-Katipunan stated. The university must do this especially in light of statements from former ADMU athletes exposing its imposition of “intense forms of training” that endanger student athletes’ lives.

According to the group, the administration must not only reflect on the inhumane and ignorant practices it has normalized within the university but must also review its overall treatment of students. “All eyes are on you, Ateneo,” LFS-Katipunan said.

More than 160 ADMU teachers and professors released a statement on June 11 calling for justice and accountability from the administration. They urged the university to express humane and sincere mourning and an apology to the victims’ families.

The parents of Baterbonia and Adili expressed deep frustration and anger over the lack of transparency and accountability in what happened to their children. Public support poured in for the two families amid their grief.

Sports as big business

Beyond the incident, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan chairperson Teddy Casiño said that intense training in basketball and university sports stems from their heavy commercialization. He said college sports, once an extracurricular activity, have become a full-fledged business profiting big media, corporate sponsors, advertising, and even gambling.

He added that college sports now rival professional leagues, with universities recruiting players from across the country and abroad. “This leads to commodifying the youth based on their talent to highest bidder,” Casiño said.

Casiño explained that treating student athletes as professionals rather than amateurs places enormous pressure on them. This far exceeds what should be expected in a school competition.

“Which makes Rene, Divine, and their families victims not only of a tragic accident but of a commercialized system run by elite schools, their patrons, and the insatiable sports industry,” Casiño said. He emphasized that this context shows that the tragedy is not only for the victims or their classmates, but for the entire people.